Annual Denim Day Fundraiser Invites Faculty, Staff and Students to Wear Jeans in Support of Breast Cancer Research

October 12, 2012

The Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry community participated in the seventeenth annual Lee National Denim Day on Oct. 12, inviting students, faculty and staff to wear jeans to show their support for the fight against breast cancer. An initiative of Lee Jeans, Denim Day is a national fundraiser that has raised nearly $90 million for breast cancer research since its inception in 1996.

The dental school has proudly participated in the annual event since 1998. For a $5 donation, participants are given a pink ribbon pin and the once-a-year opportunity to wear denim to work or school. Baked goods were available for sale in addition to the pins, with all proceeds going toward the cause. The school raised more than $2,200 in donations through Oct. 12.

"Wearing jeans to show support for the fight against breast cancer is a fun way to bring the dental school community together," said Magda Rinaldi, a Pediatric Clinic dental teaching assistant who co-coordinated the event. "For many years now Denim Day has been a great opportunity to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research."

For the past six years, Rinaldi has coordinated the Denim Day event with Ligia Bermudez, also a dental teaching assistant in the school's Pediatric Clinic. Prior to Rinaldi and Bermudez's leadership, the event was coordinated by Dianne Weiner, telecommunications manager, who first got the school involved.

The donations generated from nationwide participation in Denim Day support treatment and research, including the development of an early detection blood test in collaboration with the Breast Cancer Biomarker Discovery Project.